Prayers were said at Mass in Castleknock, Dublin yesterday for the victim of the stabbing at a house on Beechpark Avenue.

Local people in the well-to- do west Dublin suburb expressed their shock at the death of Thomas O’Gorman, in his 30s, in the early hours of yesterday. He was beaten and stabbed in the family home.

“You’d be shocked because nobody deserves to die like that,” said one neighbour living close by. “They were a very quiet, private family. The other two children are gone years. The mother died last year and the father seven or eight years ago.”

However, she was not surprised by the occurrence of such an incident in an affluent area. “It can happen anywhere.” She said she had first heard about Mr O’Gorman’s death on the radio and the arrest of a 34-year-old man. “We didn’t even know that, they were that private a family.”

Expressing her sympathy, she said: “We went to Mass and prayed for him. The priest mentioned about the tragedy. It is a great sadness.”

Situated less than a mile from the Phoenix Park, Beechpark Avenue is one of the most affluent areas in Castleknock, with detached homes along one side of the road and semi-detached on the other.

Mr O’Gorman lived in a detached mock Georgian home on the quiet avenue, at the end of which the Castleknock Lawn Tennis club is located. Four more detached homes are currently under construction on the other side of the avenue from his s home.

A lone garda stood sentry outside the house yesterday, which was sealed off with Garda crime scene tape.

Mr O’Gorman’s body was removed for postmortem examination earlier in the day and detectives returned to the house to continue their investigation.

Beechpark Avenue is a busy road for traffic and a number of people out walking stopped to speak to the garda on duty. Others said they did not know the family and had only heard the news on the radio.

“It is very shocking,” said one passerby, who regularly walks on Beechpark Avenue. “With all the deaths recently it seems life is very cheap.”

She had heard the news reports about the death being linked to a row over chess. “It is a very intense game and the rules are very strict,” she said, comparing it to bridge. “It brings out the worst in people.”